By Laura Wakely
POLICE are investigating a suspicious fire in Hillside, which took place at a house where a clandestine drug laboratory was discovered a fortnight earlier.
Emergency services were called to Hawkesbury Ave at 12.45 on the morning of Saturday 24 September after neighbours reported that a house was on fire.
CFA and MFB crews spent 90 minutes extinguishing the fire, which had caused extensive damage to
the house.
The owner of the house is on remand after police found a drug lab allegedly used for the manufacture of illicit drugs at the address. No other person was home at the time.
Fire investigators are treating the fire as suspicious and will continue to investigate its cause.
Meanwhile, it’s been a busy month for the Brimbank Drug Unit, in which four people were arrested for drug-related crimes.
Police discovered ice, cannabis, amphetamines and a large haul of stolen goods, including televisions, laptops a motorcycle and a WWII rifle, when they executed a search warrant in Grantham Parade in St Albans on Wednesday 14 September.
A St Albans man was arrested and has been remanded in custody to appear at court later this year.
On Friday 16 September, a search of a Stevenston St home in Deer Park resulted in the arrest of a 26-year-old Vietnamese student.
Police uncovered a hydroponic cannabis set up, 198 plants and 87 kilograms of cannabis at the site.
Police found another 207 cannabis plants at a Balnarring Drive home in Kings Park on Friday 23 September, where a 24-year-old man was arrested.
The following day police also arrested a 25-year-old woman on Main Rd West in St Albans after a search of her car uncovered 17 grams of heroin and one gram of ice.
The woman was charged with drug trafficking.
